Original subtitles

In this world, there is real evil.

In the darkest shadows and in the most ordinary places.

These are the true stories of the innocent and the unimaginable.

Al and Kelly are building a life together.

But they find themselves in the shadows of a grim past.

Death lurks around every corner.

When Al uncovers a long-forgotten tragedy, a killer returns from the grave

to tear the family apart.

Between the world we see and the things we fear, there are

doors. When they are opened, nightmares become reality.

In the Canadian city of Montreal in the fall of 1996,

single mother Kelly Fontaine and her six-year-old daughter Haley

fantasize about living in a big house.

Yep. Okay. One, two, three.

We would walk along and, you know, pick a street and she'd pick her favorite

house and I'd pick my favorite house.

That was kind of a game we always played.

Out of concern for her family, Kelly agreed to be interviewed only on the

condition of anonymity.

We both seemed to like this house where most every other street I would like one

and she'd like a different one.

I guess that's why this game came about because we always dreamed of living in a

nice house.

Someday we are going to have a house just like this.

For more than a year, Kelly has been dating construction supervisor Al

Goodwin.

We seem to just connect really well, and there was never anything we couldn't

talk about. It was great.

Al says he's found the ideal house for them to live in together.

In an odd coincidence, it's the same house that Kelly and her daughter had

both picked a few days earlier.

You know that old place on Sycamore?

Well, then it's perfect.

When we found out it was this house, we were just so excited about it.

We thought this is the place where we're going to be very, very happy there for a

long time.

Before moving in, Al and Kelly have the rooms repainted.

You know what? If we have a baby. When we have a baby.

They begin planning how to decorate the nursery.

Our dream was to start another family, to give Haley a brother or sister and

have another baby. And everything just seemed so like it was going wonderful

for us.

Did you hear that?

Yeah.

Let's check it out.

We heard somebody coming up the stairs.

And there was nobody there.

We looked all around and didn't see anyone or anything.

And we just kind of said, well, it's an old house. Maybe there's going to be

noises we have to get used to.

A few

weeks later, Al is at work and Haley is at school.

Kelly gets a call from her doctor.

Are you sure?

She's pregnant.

That's great news.

Yeah, okay.

I was just tidying up.

I heard footsteps in the same room as me.

I thought, okay, I'm not going to overreact.

I just kind of pretended it didn't happen and carried on with what I was

doing.

That evening, Kelly breaks the news to Al.

I'm pregnant.

She also tells him about the eerie footsteps.

I didn't want to make it like I was this nervous wreck kind of person.

Our relationship living together was still so new that I didn't want to sound

like I was crazy.

I mean, there's nobody there. I just...

Your footsteps.

I couldn't believe it.

I just couldn't believe it.

Maybe it's somebody walking outside.

Yeah, maybe.

Then I thought, yeah, there's something going on here.

Knowing there are no intruders in the house, Al calls a friend.

Richard Paul Musano, who works as a paranormal researcher in his spare time.

Al believes Richard is the ideal person to resolve the mystery of the phantom

footsteps.

They were very worried. They just signed a lease for a new place.

They had a small child.

They were concerned they were getting into something they shouldn't be getting

into.

Al argues that there is probably a simple explanation for the sounds.

He was sort of hoping that it wasn't paranormal.

He wanted to have some reasonable explanation for what was going on.

I've investigated phenomena where it was just mice or, you know, the house

settling.

Then we can identify the cause.

Richard suggests trying to record the sounds in the house when it is empty.

Richard thinks the spirit is attracted to Kelly.

He believes she should be the one to turn on the recorder.

Whatever seemed to be in the house seemed to have a closeness to her.

The next

day, Kelly prepares to leave.

pick up her daughter Haley from school.

I'm leaving now.

I deliberately walked with heavy footsteps down the stairs.

And I slammed the door so that anything that happened past that point of the

door slamming, they would know it wasn't me.

That night when Al and Richard get off work, they retrieve the tape recorder.

I did not touch the tape recorder.

I did not rewind it. I didn't want to be the one to find out whether there was

anything on it or not.

I'm leaving now.

What they hear on the tape takes them all by surprise.

You could hear a tinkling. That sounded like a charm bracelet.

And then the footstep stopped.

It was almost not even a human sound.

It was awful. It was just awful.

I looked at Al, and I didn't need to tell him he had something in that house.

He already knew from the tape there was something unseen roaming that house.

Al replays the eerie recording.

Paranormal researcher Richard Palmisano.

You hear footsteps coming down the stairs as if bare feet.

And you can hear bracelets jingling.

Then there's a sigh.

And the sigh is almost like abandonment of a child.

It was actually very overwhelming to think that, you know, you have a spirit

in your house, and now you have no choice but to believe in something that

you never believed in before.

Who do you think it is?

It definitely sounds female to me.

Al tells Richard that he had met the house's previous occupants, a woman and

her 15-year-old daughter.

He says that the daughter wore a charm bracelet, and he thinks that the voice

on the tape sounds like her.

Here's what I heard.

Al says

the mother was a drug abuser who dressed

provocatively and hung out in bars.

Her many lovers and unpaid bills made life difficult for her daughter.

Al says he heard that after moving to an apartment, the mother continued to

frequent bars.

I knew the mother and she wasn't a very good person.

Don't wait up and stay out of trouble. She was into a lot of drugs.

The 15-year-old girl became increasingly desperate about her mother's destructive

behavior.

The girl decided that death was not the right answer and called 911.

Ambulance arrived too late to save her.

I don't think she was really trying to kill herself. It seemed like it was a

cry for help and not that she really wanted to kill herself.

It seemed like she was trying to get her mother's attention.

We kind of put two and two together.

And the three of us believe the girl had come back to the house seeking her

mother and most likely following.

Kelly around as a mother image.

Al just kind of really got curious about it.

I was a bit curious, but I was much more afraid than I was curious.

During the days and nights that follow, whenever the house is empty, Al and

Richard leave tape recorders running.

And when no one's around and the house is quiet,

They'll talk.

They'll do things.

You could hear a phone ringing and her answering the phone. And you could hear

her side of the conversation.

It was completely obvious it was

this girl.

Richard returns one Saturday night to investigate further.

Kelly arranges for Haley to stay with friends to keep her from being

frightened by the men's activities.

Al and Richard set up their equipment in key locations around the house.

We were running video upstairs.

We had tape recorders recording upstairs.

We had tape recorders downstairs operating.

I'm glad you could come over.

Richard's wife arrives to keep Kelly company.

I'm going to go get the coffee, and if you don't mind, the cards are in the

closet. They decide to play cards.

Here you go.

Thank you.

Your closet is freezing cold.

It was really strange that the closet would be cold because on the other side

of the wall there was a hot water heater and the pipe went through that closet

and that closet was always hot.

Hey, we decided we were going to play some bridge.

Okay.

You deal first.

Al and Richard are eager to listen to the tapes.

And something hit me.

My entire body was just tingling.

I couldn't see. My eyes were watering. I was disoriented.

And I said, what's wrong?

And he said, it's like something ran through me.

Can I get you something? Some water, an aspirin, anything?

No, no, it's all right.

It's all right.

Let's live on.

Something just went right through me. You okay?

Oh, man.

Now, there was only Al and I upstairs, so where this voice came from, I don't

know.

Come back here. Don't you turn your back on me. I will get you.

I got scared.

Looks like something just went right through me. You okay?

Who is this guy? But what frightens Kelly only makes Al more determined to

solve the mystery.

I think we've got to keep investigating.

Who's this guy now that says he's either going to get us or the little girl?

This daughter has no habit of opening by itself.

Kelly and Richard's wife, they said, that's enough.

We're not staying here tonight.

It was that bad.

Everybody was just too scared.

Al, Kelly, Richard, and his wife return to the haunted house after a frightening

experience the night before.

I don't know, I just... Kelly remains unnerved.

Richard and I are checking out first.

I was too afraid at that point to learn any more that was going on.

Al and Richard venture into the house to face the unknown.

The two men find nothing unusual.

until they go to the second floor.

We went through the house upstairs only to find all these black skid marks

throughout the rooms.

It certainly would explain how loud it was last night.

The only thing I can reason with is some other entity, some male entity in this

house was chasing this girl, and she was trying to get away.

They tell the women what they've found.

Richard believes they need to help the girl cross over to the next world.

I felt an obligation to try to help her.

Why I really felt like that and I really don't know because I was very afraid.

Kelly and Al agree to try to help the girl.

They hope that it will give them back their home.

I thought maybe once this girl was on her way, everything would be okay.

Then we'll get our house back.

Richard promises to find a medium who can

help.

Kelly, anxious to preserve her relationship with Al, reluctantly agrees

to continue living in the house.

A few days later, Richard brings a medium to the house.

She has helped hundreds of spirits cross over.

I was pregnant at the time, and I said, you know, will something bad happen?

You need to be here, okay?

Don't worry, we're going to say a prayer for you and protect you. And she said

no, that she thought it was very important for me to be there and be part

of this.

We all joined hands, and she prayed for our safety.

She really seemed like she knew what she was doing.

She

kind

of went into a trance.

She was having a conversation with this young girl and telling her that she

wasn't supposed to be here and stay here, that she needed to go on her way.

You need to cross over now.

It's all right. Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid.

I know it's... You need to cross over now and you need to follow the light.

I'm here to help you.

It's okay.

Don't be afraid, all right?

Suddenly, the medium flinches.

There's a negative entity that just entered the room.

This dark entity showed up trying to coax the girl to stay.

The medium urges them both to cross over.

Why would you let her go?

She started arguing.

with the male spirit telling him to leave the girl alone.

I command you in the name of God to let her go.

Fine.

Then you just rot in your own hell. Then she yelled at this male spirit to go rot

in his own hell.

She did assure us that the girl had gone on her way, but she said the male spirit

is not going anywhere.

I don't think you're going to get him to leave.

And he's not the only one here.

And I was just, I felt kind of crushed at that point.

Kelly wanted out.

I wanted to know more.

A few weeks later, Richard invites a clairvoyant to see if he can help. Let

me give you a little bit of background.

I've had this ability to sense spirits since I was a child. The clairvoyant,

John, has been able to sense the presence of spirits since childhood.

He has communicated with the dead in more than a thousand readings.

Pendulum is an instrument I've used for years.

Some people refer to it as a dowsing tool.

It gives a sense or feeling through your hand, almost like a current of

electricity.

Pendulums have been employed for millennia to detect imperceptible

vibrations and often to communicate with spirits.

John explains that he asks questions and that the spirits move the pendulum

clockwise for yes and counterclockwise for no.

I've had it moving so strongly that I've had to actually hold on or it would have

flown out of my hand.

Is there

a spirit here who would like to communicate?

I did get a positive response.

Are you a male spirit?

The pendulum indicated a very strong yes.

Yes.

Can you tell me about it?

And then all of a sudden, boom.

Fear would come right through me.

Whoever was speaking to us is now terrified.

Not tonight, he's killed him. John tells them that the dark entity has silenced

the other spirits.

We can try again.

I think that just completely sparked Al's and Richard's curiosity, and they

just wanted to continue and do as much investigating as possible to find out

what was going on and how we could change it.

A few nights later, John returns for another try.

I usually run equipment at the same time, and then afterwards I would review

the tape, and then I would hear the other side of the conversation.

Is there a spirit here who wishes to communicate?

The clairvoyant tries to find out more about the dark entity.

I specifically remember asking, does he have a name? Do you know his name?

And the answer clearly was, and this is when the pendulum began to accelerate in

its intensity, yes.

Please indicate when I get to the first letter of his name.

A B C D

E Good.

First letter is E.

Now for the second letter.

A B C

C

He's here.

A, B, C.

He's coming.

It's Edward.

It's Edward. That night, what we got on tape was very clearly.

You didn't tell them my name.

You didn't give them my name, did you?

I don't want any part of this anymore.

Kelly finds it terrifying.

We're going to get rid of this ghost. I said, I don't want to know anything

that's going on anymore because I was just too afraid.

Richard begins researching the history of Al and Kelly's home.

He discovers that in the 1930s and 40s, it was home to the hired help for a

nearby mansion.

He also discovers that the mansion was managed by a man named Edward, the same

name heard on the tape.

Edward had been appointed to manage the huge estate during World War II.

There are streaks.

What is wrong with you?

He quickly became a brutal tyrant.

I will teach you to obey.

Don't ever touch me.

He was a mean-spirited individual.

He would take advantage of the female workers on the property.

He thought he was very powerful.

So Richard was doing some research, and he found out there really wasn't Edward.

Al tries to tell Kelly about their research.

Stop it!

A few hours later, Kelly finds herself

alone in the house.

It seemed like this, whatever it was, was really trying to scare us now.

He was here again today.

I was coming out of the bathroom.

That night, Kelly tells Al what's happened to her. It was really pretty

scary.

The news frustrates him.

His desire to put an end to the haunting has begun to drive a wedge between the

two of them.

Why don't we just...

Al seemed like he was possessed at times.

I didn't understand what was driving him to want to stay there and get to the

bottom of it.

Al convinces Kelly that Edward is somehow the key to bringing all the

terrifying experiences to an end.

He promises that while he tries to solve the mystery, he will protect both her

and Haley.

to finding out what I need to know. He reassured me that they were so close to

putting the puzzle together and solving it that he was very confident that it

would stop.

OK. I couldn't really describe why I chose to stay when I should have been

out of there.

Did you hear that?

Whenever Al hears an unusual sound, he snaps a photo.

hoping to capture images from the spirit world.

Al shows one of the photos to Richard and John.

I remember just seeing infinite faces.

This is not us imagining this. There's one face, there's a face, there's a

face, there's a face, there's a face.

But I didn't understand why I saw so much blood.

It's like a spiritual orphanage in here.

And I remember thinking, what caused this? Why is this?

Well, that's what we've got to figure out.

It just pushed us on for more investigations because we wouldn't stop

until we found out.

You have a choice.

Get out or find out what's going on.

One night, Haley goes downstairs to get a drink of water.

Her terror makes it difficult for her to talk.

And I saw someone.

I thought it was help, but it wasn't.

I was petrified for my daughter. She was young. She was so innocent.

Maybe it could have been a nightmare.

No, I saw him. He was walking towards me.

You know, Haley, Sometimes something can seem really real.

I don't know whether she just wrote it off that it was her imagination or that

maybe she hadn't fully woken up.

I don't know.

The next morning.

I thought, okay, there's lots of cords still here. I didn't pull it out of the

wall. This is strange.

It's me.

I need you to come home.

No, I need you to come home right now.

No, I'm serious. I'm not leaving the bedroom until you get here.

Please just come home.

Okay.

I just, I sat on the bed and I was petrified.

Kelly, it's me.

Al, open the door.

I searched the whole house. There's no one here. Nothing's been moved.

I don't care. This is all your fault. You and your friends had stirred

everything up. It's just getting worse. That's not true. We're trying to get rid

of him. It started putting a really big strain on our relationship because it

was like he was more concerned with the unknown than he was for us.

Kelly. And I felt very frustrated that he was so into doing this and figuring

it all out that he was putting our feelings aside.

He again convinced me that they were just so close to putting this puzzle

together and things were going to change and things would be okay once they

figured it out.

Al, Richard, and John decide to only do research outside the house, out of

respect for Kelly.

I saw that she was very nervous.

She didn't want to disturb her household, but at the same time, her

household was under attack, so was she.

John warns Al that evil spirits may be trying to ruin his relationship with

Kelly.

And I did say this to Al, be careful with the relationship with your wife.

Because very often they will do things to get you arguing, to get you fighting,

to get you to hurt each other.

They feed off that negative energy.

They also know that, you know, they break your marriage up, you're leaving.

The fact that it manifested solid as it did, I felt it was saying, oh, I know

you see me.

I don't care.

I want you to see me. I want you to get a good look at me.

Al tells the others that he heard that a man living in the old mansion next door

had repeatedly seen the dark ghostly figure in his basement apartment.

The man moved out after a section of the floor in his bedroom mysteriously sank.

It's interesting that this figure is showing up in different areas of the

property.

It doesn't seem that he just shows up in one room of a house.

I said, we need to look into it.

No. They decide to investigate.

In

what

used to be an old mansion, three men hunt

for clues to a haunting.

We basically made a portable Ouija board, for lack of a better term.

A, B, C, D, E, and N numbers.

We laid this out on the floor and I used the pendulum.

I felt we were going to need more than just yes or no down here.

Everybody ready?

Yeah.

Is there any spirit here who wishes to communicate?

John contacts the spirit of a 19-year-old girl.

I asked the young girl her name.

She very clearly spelled out Angela.

How old were you when you died?

John discovers that in 1943, the girl died on the property.

And I asked her, what is it that caused your death?

And the word I got was bleed.

B-L-E-E-D. Bleed.

B-A-B-Y.

And then, very clear, my baby.

John learns that she'd gone to see a doctor. She identifies him as the

butcher.

The next day, John approaches an expert on local history.

I checked with a professor at the university, and I asked her, can you

tell me anything about this name? And she says, oh, there was a very famous

abortionist that worked in the local area. It came up in some of my research.

John develops a theory about what happened at the estate.

The doctor had to flee the U.S.

back in the early 40s.

And this butler, Edward, saw a beautiful opportunity.

They could make a lot of money.

You're done.

You can stay as long as you want.

We don't want to hear about it.

Al tries to tell Kelly about their new theory.

I had a crucifix on my nightstand.

And it landed with such force that it broke.

I was petrified, and I said, no, this is enough.

We have to get out of here.

You know, this is insane.

I'm too scared to go to bed at night, and when I do, I can't sleep anyway.

We need to get out of here, together as a family.

Come on out and face me!

Come on!

The shattering of the crucifix frustrates Al.

This isn't gonna help anything, honey. Calm down.

I said you come out. You face me. Where are you? Come on out.

Nothing.

Oh.

Hello.

Is this it?

Uh-huh.

Okay, okay. Let's go. Easy.

Let's go. Come on. Easy. Okay. Let's go.

Despite the pressures during her pregnancy...

Kelly delivers a healthy baby girl.

The couple names her Charity.

Two days later, Kelly returns home with her new daughter, unsure

of what awaits them.

At the former mansion, The three men hunt for information that will help them

expel a powerful dark entity.

We would like to speak with Angela.

Is Angela here?

John contacts the spirit of a girl who says she died in 1943.

Yes.

Can you help us find your body?

He asked the question, well, can you give us an indication where you're

buried? And the pendulum being on a chain?

stood straight out.

This amazes paranormal researcher Richard Pomusano.

Totally defies physics.

It boggles my mind.

If I had not witnessed it, I probably would not believe it.

Is this where you're buried?

Is this it?

Yes, this is where she's buried.

Al, John, and Richard piece together Angela's last hours.

She had gone to the estate for an abortion.

But the procedure was botched, nearly killing her.

Edward and the doctor carried the dying girl to the basement and dug a shallow

grave.

He and the doctor dumped her in a hole in the basement.

Tossed some large rocks on her to make sure she was dead.

And then covered her up.

And this 19-year-old is still there. She wants to be

released. She wants out of that house.

The nightmare is almost over. Al has a background in construction.

He tells the owner he will tear out the sunken floor for free.

The floor has to be replaced anyway.

So the owner agrees.

We went about eight or nine inches deeper.

And we found a flagstone that matched the flagstone around the fireplace,

which was in that room.

Guys, it's really late.

The men need more equipment to remove the heavy stones.

So they decide to continue in the morning.

The next day, the men return to the mansion to continue digging.

But the owner has hired workers to repair the floor.

They've already poured new concrete.

We shouldn't have stopped. We should have kept going.

I could have been just a little six inches away from a startling revelation,

and I believe she's still there.

Al and Richard are frustrated that they cannot continue their search.

And without hard evidence, they cannot go to the police.

John, what is it?

Yeah, does that feel better?

Meanwhile, Kelly gets Charity ready for her bath.

John?

John, what is it?

Revenge. I think we've made him mad.

John suddenly senses they've deeply angered the dark entity.

That bottle just flew across the room. It came this close to hitting her. It

could have really hurt her. I told them that was it.

I'm taking the girls and I'm gone.

Or you can come with me if you want.

But I'm leaving. I am not going to stay here. I think that's when Al thought

something bad's going to happen to her too.

And that's when he really...

finally agreed that, yeah, it's time for us to get out of here.

I love you.

Let's move.

The family finally

moves out, leaving the dark entity in control.

But even today, Al wishes he had rescued Angela's bones.

and laid to rest the mystery behind the haunting.

There's no end for me. I don't think even Kelly knows that. I don't think I

could even tell her about that.

If I ever found out that I could walk in that house, I'd probably do it again,

just to find out.